


Waiting

by Sandoz (Sandoz_Iscariot17)



Category: Firefly
Genre: Babies, Childbirth, Gen, Hospital, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-27
Updated: 2011-06-27
Packaged: 2017-10-20 18:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/215977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandoz_Iscariot17/pseuds/Sandoz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is perhaps no coincidence that Simon's first memory of a hospital is linked with a very important first meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Firefly and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.

Simon’s earliest memory of a hospital took place when he was five years old. He was already a precocious child, showing signs of the brilliance that was to shape his future. He was also inquisitive, antsy, and excitable: in short, he was very much a five-year-old boy.

He tugged on his father’s hand as they strode down the gleaming, immaculate hallway in the direction of the hospital’s waiting room. “Papa! I want to look around!”

“No, Simon,” Gabriel Tam replied tersely. His brow was wrinkled and his mind was elsewhere. “We need to sit down and wait until your mother’s ready for us to see her.”

Simon was briefly distracted by the passing of one of the doctors; he silently admired the man’s confident stance and his crisp, white uniform. The child wondered where the doctor was going, what operation he would perform, which life he would save. Simon pulled on his father’s hand again.

“Why can’t I watch? I’ll be quiet. I won’t get in the way!”

“Take my word for it, son, it’s not something a young boy would enjoy to see.”

Pouting, Simon grudgingly let his father take him to the lounge, where they sat on stiff, vinyl-covered chairs and were served complimentary cups of hot tea. Simon’s tea grew lukewarm, however, as he sat on his knees and peered over the back of his chair and through the window while various members of the hospital staff hurried by. Though the hours dragged, Simon remained eager and transfixed.

A voice in the doorway: “Mr. Tam, it’s time.”

Father and son followed a sandy-haired nurse as she led them to Regan Tam’s hospital room. The space was large and comfortably furnished, with several vases of colorful flowers vying for space on a corner table. Regan Tam herself was pale and yet shiny with sweat; her normally well-styled hair was disheveled and Simon had never before seen her in something so drab as a hospital gown.

“Hello, darling,” Gabriel said, joining her at her bedside.

Simon held back for a moment, looking at his mother with an almost scientific curiosity. In her arms she held a bundle that would prove to be much more fascinating than anything else he could hope to see in the hospital.

“Come closer, Simon,” Regan said softly. Gabriel picked him up and set the boy on the bed so he could get a closer look. He gazed down at a pink, wrinkled, unbearably lovely little face.

“Say hello to River.”


End file.
